Meat & Mushroom Melts

Meat and Mushrooms are a marriage made in heaven. For decades they’ve enhanced each other in many many recipes. Not only do they compliment each other in flavour but they also really are really economical to use together in the technique called Blend and Extend. Blend and Extend is the technique of mixing ground meat together with finely chopped Mushrooms. This is used in many recipes to extend the flavour but also make your end product more economical. You are also ensured getting your protein and veggies all in one bite!

You can use any ground meat in this recipe, lamb, Chicken or Pork but I chose to use some delicious Ontario Beef. The Meat & Mushroom melts are crispy on the outside and ooey and gooey on the inside, studded with a ground beef, mushroom and fresh parsley filling. This recipe is modelled after the famous Dutch snack Bitterballen which uses just beef in its recipe. This recipe is easy to make, and although it does have a few steps you will be rewarded with a large back of these crispy gooey balls to serve at a party or game night. They are also the perfect appetizer to prep ahead and just flash fry at the last minute.

In this recipe, I’m using beautiful brown Cremini mushrooms. If you have the time, you can dice these by hand, but I prefer to throw them into the food processor. This is cooked in a sauté pan with the beef and flavoured with some spices. It will then be folded into a luscious Bechamel and set overnight in the fridge.

Once it’s nice and firm, it will be scooped out and rolled in breadcrumbs, cooled, dipped in egg and rolled in breadcrumbs again before flash frying it in hot oil. Anything done twice is better and these melts are crispy on the outside and oozy and gooey on the inside. The texture and taste make for a wonderful surprise! See recipe below and follow the video for more detailed instructions.